THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Dec. 11               Seattle Pacific at UW Indoor Preview
                                     Dempsey Indoor / Seattle, Wash.
                                     Field events, 9:00 a.m.     Track events, 10:00 a.m.
                                     No live Webcast        Live results
 

SEATTLE – They started the season by running on a brand-new track.
 
This week, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get to run on a familiar one.
 
After helping to inaugurate The Podium in Spokane last month, SPU athletes will resume their indoor track and field schedule on Saturday at the UW Indoor Preview.
 
The meet at the Dempsey Indoor facility on the University of Washington campus begins with events begin at 9:00 a.m. Races on the 307-meter purple oval get started at 10:00. The last event of the day is scheduled for 4:25 p.m.
 
Since 2009, the Indoor Preview has been the opener on the calendar. But this season, the Falcons had an opportunity to get going in December and took advantage of it by competing at the Spokane Invitational, which was the very first event inside The Podium.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Live results will be available from the meet. The appropriate link can be found at the top of this story.
 
FANS ARE WELCOME
For those who wish to attend, fans will be admitted to Saturday's meet. Proof of vaccination is required for all spectators age 13 and older, and masks must be worn at all times by everyone, both inside and outside of the Dempsey.
 
All tickets are general admission at a cost of $10. Admission is free for those age 12 and younger. Ticket purchasers will be given a wristband which will allow them to re-enter the building if they step outside to use the restrooms in either Husky Softball Stadium or at the east end of Husky Stadium.
 
BACK INSIDE THE DEMPSEY
With just the occasional exception, Dempsey Indoor is where the Falcons have done the vast majority of their regular-season competition over the past several years.
 
However, because of the ongoing pandemic, the last time they set foot inside there was Feb. 29, 2020, at the SPU Final Qualifier. The UW did host its usual three meets there last winter – the Indoor Preview, the Invitational, and the Husky Classic – but the Falcons did not compete at all during the 2021 indoor season.
 
Those same three meets are on the 2022 calendar, and Seattle Pacific has all three on its schedule, The Final Qualifier also is back on the docket, slated for Saturday, Feb. 26. A starting time has not yet been determined.
 




SCOUTING THE UW INDOOR PREVIEW
On the men's side. David Njeri is back in the triple jump after leaping leaped 49 feet in Spokane – 49 feet, ¾ of an inch, to be precise. While that wasn't a school indoor record (50-8 ½), it was far enough to put him onto the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list. He is entered in the long jump for the first time this season, as well.

Speaking of NCAA provisional marks, Annika Esvelt logged one of those in Spokane, going 9 minutes, 57.68 seconds in the 3000 meters. It was her first try at that distance; she take another try at it this week in her only race.
 
The only women's field event for the Falcons on Saturday will be the pole vault. The group of four entrants is led by Madison Licari and Lizzy Daugherty. Licari, who saw limited action outdoors last spring because of an injury, cleared 11-3 ¾ in Spokane – the highest she has gone since setting an indoor PR of 11-7 ¾ at the Jackson's Nike Boise Invitational on Feb. 7, 2020. Daugherty, with Spokane being her first indoor meet, got over at 10-10. Her outdoor PR last spring was 11-3 ¾.
 
Aniya Green are doubling up in the women's sprints, slated for the 60 and the 200. Green, making her indoor debut in Spokane last month, clocked 8.25 in the 60 and 26.76 in the 200.
 
Brennan LeBlanc and Ben Sheirbon get another shot at the men's 3000. In December, Sheirbon went 9:23.38, and LeBlanc came across the line in 9:40.19.
 
Kainoa Lee set a pole vault PR of 14-1¼ at the Spokane Invite. That was his first 14-footer indoors or out, Brad Bowman will make his 2022 pole vault preview. His indoor best is 13-1 ½ from 2020.
 
A LONG TIME COMING
Breaking school records certainly doesn't happen every day … every year …
 
… or even every decade.
 
 

The latter applied to the Seattle Pacific standard in the men's 60-meter dash. It was way back in 2005 when Ryan Jewell ran 7.15 seconds in that event. No Falcon since then has ever gone faster, until Jeff Gordon hit the wire in 7.12 on Dec. 11 at the Spokane Invitational.
 
It was also in 2005 when Jewell set the current Falcon standard in the men's 200-meter dash, clocking 22.46. Gordon went 22.48 in Spokane.
 
 

Speaking of a long time, Kainoa Lee ended a Falcon dry spell in the pole vault in last month's meet. His clearance of 14-1 ¼ made him the first Falcon in nearly nine years to get over a 14-foot bar. The last one to do was Ray Zoellick, who made 14-9 in the 2013 UW Invitational.
 
NIFTY FIFTY
David Njeri knows that it'll take one of those days when everything goes exactly right: his first strides … his run … his steps on the boards … and his landing in the sand,
 
 

That's the day he'll be able to go 50 feet in the triple jump.
 
"That has been the goal since this year started," Njeri said after a leap of 49-0¾ at the Spokane Invite. It was his first -ever 49, and came just 7 ½ months after his first 48: an outdoor mark of 48-0½ at the Buc Scoring Invitational last April 30 – ironically, also in Spokane, albeit at Whitworth University instead of The Podium. (He later topped that with a GNAC-winning mark of 48-7¼ just two weeks later.)
 
Njeri now ranks No. 2 on the GNAC's all-time indoor list. The only one ahead of him is former Central Washington star Luke Plummer, who went 49-5 in 2015 and again in 2017. On the outdoor list, he's No. 8.
 
The only GNAC athlete to go 50 feet, indoor or outdoors, was Wesley Gray of Western Oregon, who went 50-10¼ at the 2017 conference meet.
 
While 50 is the magic mark on the English measuring tape, the metric number is 15.24 meters.
 
WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
M 60 DASH
Current: Jeff Gordon 7.12 (2022)
 
M 200
Current: Ryan Jewell 22.46 (2005)
Getting close: Jeff Gordon 22.48 (2022)
 
W 60 DASH
Current: Nyema Sims, 7.63 (2007)
Getting close: Jenna Bouyer 7.69 (2019)
                         Peace Igbonagwam 7.69 (2020)
 
W LONG JUMP
Current: Karin Grelsson 19-9½ / 6.04m (1993)
Getting close: Peace Igbonagwam 19-7½ / 5.98m (2019)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The "desired minimums" for the NCAA Division II nationals are 16 entries for each individual event (maximum of 20), 14 for the women's pentathlon / men's heptathlon (maximum of 16), and 12 for each of the two relays (maximum of 14). The overall limits for the meet are 270 athletes per gender.
 
Here are SPU's current provisional qualifiers, with their mark, the top-ranked mark, and the current No. 16 mark:
 
Annika Esvelt, women's 3000: 9:57.68 (No. 12); 9:23.65 (No. 1); no additional qualifiers beyond No. 12 as of now.
David Njeri, men's triple jump:  49-0 ¾ / 14.95m (No.7); 50-1¼ / 15.27m (No. 1); 47-8½ / 14.54m (No. 14; no additional qualifiers beyond that as of now).

Click on this link for a look at the current list of national qualifiers. Click on this link to see how GNAC athletes stack up within the conference.
 
UP NEXT
A select group of Falcons will return to competition on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29, at the UW Invitational. Running and field events begin at 3:00 p.m. on the 28^th and 10:00 a.m. on the 29^th.